Wood false front on a mini fridge?

[obarrett]

Has anyone tried applying a wooden door false front to a mini fridge?

Recently bought a Danby DAR125SLDD, to handle two cornys in my outdoor kitchen (which has yet to be built)...

I plan on having wood cabinet doors on the island, and would like to match the fridge...
The door has a slight curve, so I think I would bandsaw some curbed battens, construction adhesive them to the door with a few strategically placed screws then apply the decorative wood panels..... (maybe those screws need to be through bolts into with nuts on the ends?)

any thoughts?

basically, apply this style wood door, on top of the pseudo-stainless door of the Danby

 

[brooklanebrewing]

I build cabinets and have put a fair amount of wood panels on appliances (that were intended for them). I like your idea with the curved boards. I would try to take the door insulation out and just screw into the back of the panel through the sheet metal. One concern is if the cabinet next to the fridge is the same depth and close to each other the added thickness on the fridge door could hit the cabinet. Hope that's useful
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[brooklanebrewing]

... Another thing I would consider is just cutting a piece of veneer the same shape as the metal and glue it on

 

[obarrett]

(mods... i have no idea how i ended up with double original posts... double click on the submit perhaps? )

Brooklane... thanks for the input.... the fridge is only ~21" deep, and my cabinets will be at least 27, so i have wiggle room...

im gonna spend some time this weekend looking at the structure of the door and see what i can do...

i haven't even begun the steel stud framing of the bbq island, so i have some flexibility in design, but thanks for the input..

 

[dnslater]

Update the thread. I have a similar mini fridge that I have converted to a kegerator and have thought about building a custom wood door for it.

 

[CatastropheBrewer]

I too am a cabinet maker, and if i were home right now I'd take some pictures of a mini fridge I did the same to. I did what brooklane suggested in removing the insulation, etc. from the door, punched a couple 3/16" holes and screwed the false front right to the door. I'll take pics when I get home tomorrow to give you a better Idea.

 

[dnslater]

I too am a cabinet maker, and if i were home right now I'd take some pictures of a mini fridge I did the same to. I did what brooklane suggested in removing the insulation, etc. from the door, punched a couple 3/16" holes and screwed the false front right to the door. I'll take pics when I get home tomorrow to give you a better Idea.

I assume that you maintained some type of insulation in the door?

 

[orangehero]

You have to be careful with mini fridges like that to make sure they have proper ventilation. Usually built in units have a grill underneath and a fan to recirculate air from the front.